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Sunshine Mine

Past Producer in Shoshone county in Idaho, United States with commodities Silver, Antimony, Copper, Gold, Lead, Zinc, Uranium
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Mineral rights holdings
  18. Land status
  19. Ownership information
  20. Production statistics
  21. Reserves and resources
  22. Workings at the site
  23. Links to other databases
  24. Bibliographic references
  25. General comments
  26. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10241626
MAS/MILS ID 0160790011
Record type Site
Current site name Sunshine Mine
Alternate or previous names Yankee Boy Mine

Comments on the site names

  • ALTERNATE NAMES: YANKEE BOY, ROTBART

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Geographic coordinates: Elevation UTM Precision Relative position Point location
-116.07018, 47.50167 (WGS84) 850 On east side of Big Creek
(click for info)
-116.06998, 47.50117 (WGS84) 863 On east side of Big Creek
-116.07158, 47.50152 (WGS84) 810 On east side of Big Creek

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Shoshone(county)

Idaho(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Kellogg East(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Coeur D'Alene(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Spokane(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

South Fork Coeur d'Alene(hydrologic unit)

Spokane(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kootenai-Pend Oreille-Spokane(hydrologic subregion)

Pacific Northwest(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Idaho Shoshone

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Boise 048 N 003 E 15 Idaho

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Antimony Critical Tertiary
Copper Secondary
Gold Tertiary
Lead Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Uranium Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Analyses of tetrahedite from the Sunshine mine find 1-5% Ag, 2.5-4% Zn. 28-40% Cu, 4-6% Fe, 20-32% Sb, 0.3-0.75% As, and 0.11-0.12% Ni. The silver content of tetrahedrite increases with depth in the mine.
  • Up to 10 percent of vein material consists of tetrahedrite, and up to 20 percent of quartz. The balance consists almost entirely of siderite. Up to 5 percent chalcopyrite is found in high-grade veins.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Tetrahedrite Ore
Galena Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Siderite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Ankerite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Arsenopyrite Gangue
Barite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Hematite Gangue
Boulangerite Trace
Jamesonite Trace
Silver Trace
Pyrargyrite Trace
Erythrite Trace
Covellite Trace
Chalcocite Trace
Cerargyrite Trace
Bournonite Trace
Gersdorffite Trace
Uraninite Trace
Azurite Trace
Anglesite Trace
Cerussite Trace
Stibnite Trace
Polybasite Trace
Matildite Trace

Alteration

  • (Local) Host rocks underwent zeolite facies metamorphism
  • (Local) Veins typically consists of a core of massive ore, bounded by selvages of quartz, then pyrite veinlets in siderite-ankerite, and then passing into altered (bleached with sporadic sericitization) wall rock. Contact with wall-rock is sharp, often marked by a thin seam of sericite gouge. Massive ore consists of siderite-quartz-ankerite (rarely -barite) gangue with disseminated sulfides of tetrahedrite, galena, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, pyrite, boulangerite, bournonite, and gersdorffite.
  • (Local) Upper part of the Sunshine vein was at least partly oxidized with some degree of sulfide enrichemnt. In the oxide zone, azurite, malachite, cerargyrite, native silver, anglesite, cerussite, and erythrite have been reported. Enriched sulfides include covellite, chalcocite, acanthite, and pyrargyrite (sometimes misidentified as proustite).
  • (Local) Envelopes of disseminated arsenopyrite occur around the veins, and are probably associated with more extensive halos of disseminated carbonates.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Wallace Formation
    Rock description Wallace Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name St. Regis Formation
    Rock description St. Regis Formation
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Revett Formation
    Rock description Revett Formation

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Big Creek Anticline, overturned north limb, strikes NNE to NNW, axial plane dips about 70 degrees; highly-strained and broken by EW normal shears that dip steeply south and host ore.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Sunshine-Polaris Vein System
Type of structure Regional
Structure description Silver Syndicate Fault (N70W 50-70SW) shows reverse and left-lateral movement. Fault is 15 to 20 meters thick.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Chester Fault (E-W 50-60S) connects the Silver Syndicate Fault with the Polaris Fault to the east. Fault is up to 5 meters thick.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Yankee Girl Vein System
Type of structure Regional
Structure description Polaris Fault (N70W 60SW) shows normal and right-lateral movement.

Ore body information

  • Name Sunshine-Polaris Vein System
    General form PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike 60-75SW
    Dip 60-75SW
    Depth to top 0
    Depth to bottom 1675
  • Name Chester Vein System
    General form PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike 60-68SE
    Dip 60-68SE
    Depth to top 700
    Depth to bottom 1310
  • Name Silver Syndicate (Silver Summit) Vein
    General form PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike 57-70SW
    Dip 57-70SW
    Depth to top 0
    Depth to bottom 1700
  • Name Yankee Girl Vein System
    General form PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike 55-80S
    Dip 55-80S
    Depth to top 820
  • Name Copper Vein
    General form PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike 49-63
    Dip 49-63
    Thickness 396
  • Name West Chance Vein
    General form TABULAR
    Strike steep S
    Dip steep S
    Plunge 70
    Plunge direction W
    Thickness 700
    Length 300

Comments on the ore body information

  • The Sunshine and Polaris veins are parallel veins, the Sunshine in the hanging wall and Polaris in the foot wall of a shear zone, which coverge at about the 1300 foot level (396 meters). At depth the vein system consists of several branching and parallel veins, including the 'B', 'D', and '06' veins. At the east end of the vein system, three main veins were mine known as the North, South, and Middle Polaris veins. Above the 1500 (457 meter) level, quartz is more abundant and some galena is present; below the 1500 level the vein is rich in tetrahedrite. The vein passes into Revett Formation quartzite at the 3700 (1128 meter) level. The vein terminates to the east at the Silver Syndicate Fault. The ore contains from 1700 to 2600 grams per ton silver per percent of copper.
  • The Chester Vein System branches off the Silver Syndicate Fault via the North Hook (Chester Hook) and then follows the Chester Fault for 2,377 meters. This is a replacement vein except for tension gash-filling in the North Hook area. Upper levels of the vein are mixed galena-tetrahedrite ores, but the proportion of tetrahedrite increases with depth until the 3700 level (1128 meters) is reached below which galena is absent. Highest grades are at the 5000 (1524 meters) level and below. The ore contains 2600 grams per ton silver per percent copper.
  • The Silver Syndicate replacement vein lies entirely in the Silver Syndicate Fault. Three major ore shoots were mined from the surface down to the 4000 (1219 meter) level. Little ore was found from the 3850 (1173 meter) to the 4000 level. The vein consisted of quartz, siderite, pyrite, and galena (which contains remnants of tetrahedrite).
  • The Yankee Girl vein is a hanging-wall split from the Sunshine-Polaris shear zone that occupies a shattered zone in the north limb of the Big Creek Anticline. Narrow, interlacing massive siderite-tetrahedrite veins and veinlets formed several ore zones 1 to 2 meters wide, none of which were mined below the 3700 (1128 meters) level. Veins contain siderite, ankerite, quartz, pyrite, tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite, magnetite, and hematite. Ore contains 1400 grams per ton silver per percent of copper.
  • Uraninite mineralization occurs in the footwall of the Sunshine-Polaris vein system from the 2900 (884 meters) to 3700 (1128 meters) levels in St. Regis Formation quartzite. Mineralization consists of quart-pyrite-uraninite veins and veinlets with selvages of dissemintad hematite.

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Ore is hosted by E-W trending, steeply S dipping replacement veins within shear zones parallel to bedding on the north limb of the overturned Big Creek Anticline. Clean quartzite from the Revett Formation and the Revett-St. Regis Transition Zone are the best host rocks for ore. Less ore is found in sericitic quartzite in the Wallace and St. Regis Formations. Veins flatten out (refract) when they pass from argillite into quartzite.
  • Vein intersections plunge steeply southwest, near the dip line and parallel to synmineral mulltions, grooving, rodding, and slickensides. Veins were formed during inhomogenous ductile shear with slip in a field of uniaxial stress parallel to the line defined by fracture/vein intersections. Ore shoots are elongate in, and controlled by, this slip plane.

Comments on the geologic information

  • Isotopic studies (Eaton and others, 1995) indicate that contemporaneous deformation, metamorphism, and mineralization occurred during the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary, probably due to the emplacement of the Idaho Batholith south of the Coeur d'Alene Mining region.
  • Wallace Formation calcareous argilite and quartzite amd St. Regis Formation argilite and quartzite exposed at surface. Revett Formation quartzite exposed only on the 3100 level of the Sunshine mine an below.
  • At the Sunshine mine, the Wallace Formation is 1200 to 1500 meters thick, the St. Regis Formation 500 to 600 meters thick, and the Revett Formation 650 to 1050 meters thick.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1884
Discoverer Dennis Blake and True Blake
Mining method Filled Stopes - Inclined Cut and Fill
Year of first production 1890
Year of last production 2001
Plant type Beneficiation (Mill)
Plant subcategory Flotation
Milling method Flotation
Production years 1887-1899, 1904-1905, 1912-2001

Mining district

District name Evolution, Yreka

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Located Claim
Type of mineral rights Patented

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Dennis and True Blake
    Interest 100
    Home office Kellogg, Idaho
    First year 1884
    Last year 1921
  • Type Lessee
    Owner S.L. Shonts
    Interest 100
    Home office Kellogg, Idaho
    First year 1912
    Last year 1915
  • Type Lessee
    Owner Big Creek Leasing Co.
    Interest 100
    Home office Kellogg, Idaho
    First year 1916
    Last year 1920
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Sunshine Mining Co.
    Interest 100
    Home office Boise, Idaho
    First year 1921
    Last year 2001
  • Type Lessee
    Owner J.B. Cox
    Interest 100
    Home office Kellogg, Idaho
    First year 1921
    Last year 1921
  • Type Lessee
    Owner Yankee-Polaris Leasing & Development Co.
    Interest 100
    Home office Wallace, Idaho
    First year 1923
    Last year 1928
  • Type Owner
    Owner American Reclamation Inc.
    Interest 100
    Home office Los Angeles, California
    First year 2003
  • Type Lessee/Operator
    Owner Sterling Mining Co.
    Interest 100
    Home office Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
    First year 2003

Comments on the ownership information

  • RE RECORD 4, THE ACTUAL OWNER IS THE WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY
  • "SUNSHINE PRECIOUS METALS, INC."
  • THE SURFACE AREA OF THE SUNSHIME MINE (109 HECTARES) AND ALL
  • BY SUNSHIME MINING COMPANY. IN LATE 1981, A STOCK TRADE
  • MERGER WAS APPROVED, AND THE COMPANINES KNOWN AS SILVER
  • DOLLAR MINING CO., SUNSHINE CONSOLIDATED, INC., SILVER
  • INTO THE SUNSHIME MINING COMPANY. PRESENTLY THE SUNSHINE
  • MINING COMPANY'S INTEREST IN ORES MINED IS 76 PERCENT WITH
  • THE MERGERS ADDING 20 PERCENT. POST MERGER SUNSHINE INTER-
  • MINE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
  • SUNSHINES
  • ORES PRODUCED
  • UNIT AREA 66.75% HECLA MINING CO.
  • "S" AREA 50.00 SILVER SURPRIZE, INC.
  • YANKEE GIRL AREA 84.00 METROPOLITAN MINES CORP,
  • (METROPOLITAN) LTD.
  • METROPOLITAN AREA 50.00 METROPOLITAN MINES CORP,
  • LTD.
  • "X" AREA 100.00 NONE
  • RAMBO AREA 83.37 HECLA MINING CO.
  • SUNSHINE CONSOLI-
  • DATED AREA 100.00 NONE
  • BIG CREEK APEX
  • AREA 100.00 NONE
  • SNOWSTORM AREA 100.00 NONE
  • IN 1984 HECLA SOLD ITS SHARE TO SUNSHINE MINING CO., GIVING
  • SUNSHINE CONTROL OF 98% OF ORE PRODUCTION FROM THE MINE.
  • MINE, MILL, AND INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES ARE OWNED DIRECTLY
  • SYNDICATE, INC., AND BIG CREEK APEX MINING CO. WERE MERGED
  • ESTS AND RIGHTS TO PRODUCTION IN THE VARIOUS AREAS OF THE

Production statistics

  • Year 2002
    Period 1904-2001
    Ore mined 11129372mt
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major In Ore and Concent Silver Silver 8144mt 900g/mt

Comments on the production information

  • Production data compiled from Sunshine Mining Company Annual Reports and other sources.

Reserves and resources

  • Type Milling
    Name End of Year Reserves
    Estimate year 2000
    Demonstrated 998000mt concentrate
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Silver 809 g/mt Silver Major 2000
    Copper 0.46 wt-pct Copper Minor 2000

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves from Sunshine Mining Co. annual report for 2000.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings No. 1 Adit
    Length 30
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings No. 2 Adit
    Length 52
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings No. 3 Adit
    Length 244
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings No. 4 Adit
    Length 305
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings No. 5 (Price) Adit
    Length 914
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings No. 6 (Sunshine) Adit
    Length 457
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings Jewell Shaft
    Overall depth 730
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings No. 10 Shaft
    Overall depth 884
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings No. 12 Shaft
    Overall depth 487

Comments on the workings information

  • More than 100 miles (161 kilometers) of underground workings when the mine closed in 2001.

Comments on development

  • The modern Sunshine mine is a consolidation of many properties, totaling 930 hectares, and including the Yankee Boy Group of 5 patented claims, the Yankee Girl Group of 11 patented claims, the Majestic Group of 2 unpatented claims, and many others.
  • Initial miining method in the 1920s was rill stoping, shortly replaced by square set with development rock fill. Horizontal cut and fill with occaisional shrinkage stoping was adopted later, with tailings fill used from 1960.
  • In 1943, bonanza silver ore was discvered on a deep extension of the Chester Vein into the St. Regis Formation.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit 1996: EXPLORATION HAS CONCENTRATED IN THE WEST CHANCE SYSTEM
Deposit OF THE SUNSHINE MINE, WHICH NOW HAS DELINEATED A "PROVEN AND
Deposit RECORD 153 - ANTIMONY CATHODES ARE SHIPPED TO MANY CONSUMERS
Deposit THE MANUFCTR OF ANTIMONIAL LEAD BUNKER HILL AT KELLOGG
Deposit OREBODIES CONSIST GENERALLY OF FRACTURE FILLINGS AND REPLACE
Deposit ADDITIONAL CRIB NO. WO19556, WO19379, WO19381
Deposit PROBABLE" RESERVE IN WEST CHANCE OF 131,000 KG OF AG.
Deposit ALONG FAULT ZONES, MINERALIZATIONAVERAGES 1-2 METERS THICK

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 19-JUN-97 Buckingham, David A. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Updater 25-FEB-05 Long, Keith R. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 14-NOV-83 Western Field Operations Center U.S. Bureau of Mines
Reporter 01-OCT-75 Miller, Pat J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

External references

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